Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Lady Eagles hosted Portland Bulldogs Wednesday night
in the quarterfinals. The Eagles dominated the field the whole game;
however, somehow the Bulldogs found their way into the home end and scored with
25 minutes left in the first half. The Portland goalie finished with 24 saves
on goal.

Though the rain came and went during the game the fans
came to watch on both sides and the excitement rallying for both the Eagles and
the Bulldogs was audible. The first half ended with Portland up 1-0.

Within eight minutes into the second half Portland scored
again. Coach Deb LaBel must have had a heart to heart talk with her Lady Eagles
because when they came to play the second half the game play change. The Eagles
knew it was then or never!

Ciera Berthiaume scored two goals, including the winning
goal and Jenna Soucy tied the game three minutes after Ciera scored the first
goal. Top-seeded Eagles (14-0-1) rallied to win over ninth-seeded Bulldogs (9-8)
3-2.

The Lady Eagles hosted Thornton Academy last Monday night in the
Western Maine Class A Semifinals. Thornton lost to Windham in two overtimes in
last season’s regional final making this game an extra incentive for both teams
to bring their A game.

For the second game in a row the Eagles fell behind by two goals
and fought back for a 3-2 win. Thornton’s Tory Daigle put the Trojans on the
board giving them a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute of the first half
and again early in the second half, Daigle scored on a pass from Jessica
Haskell.

Working well under pressure, the Eagles rallied back when
Berthiaume challenged goalkeeper Lexi Nason along with Thornton’s defense and
scored. In a repeat of the quarterfinals, Jenna Soucy followed up with a goal
with an assist from Holly Spencer. Officially tying the game up and going into
regulation overtime.

Fans were pumped from both teams and you could hear the
excitement from the crowd. Individual player names were being yelled, team
names were being shouted, and friendly banter was being exchanged between the
Eagles nest to the Thornton fan section.

Ciera Berthiaume ran the ball past Thornton’s defense and took a
shot on goal only to have the ball hit the side bar and bounce back at her.
Nason had already committed herself against Berthiaume taking her away from the
box. Ciera drilled her rebound into the back of the net with 9:09 left in
overtime.

Windham (15-0-1) hosted number two Scarborough (14-1-1)
Wednesday in the regional final.